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KWP's Antigone A Multi-Author Review
Reviews by El'ad Nichols-Kaufman '25, Max Anton '23, Megli Micek '23, Wyatt Sweeney '23, Cooper Ussery '23, Elias Christian '22, Ellie Laabs '22, and Hannah Rose '22, photos by Liz Dowdy and Rose Zhang
Maya Lake's Ismene
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aya Lake is the first actress onstage in KWP’s Antigone, walking solemnly along the edge of the Boathouse balcony – at the edge of Thebes – silent, placid, awaiting the arrival of her sister. Regal features set with an implacable, if not somehow sad expression – a picture of perfect poise – Lake’s Ismene provided a strong contrast to Kammeyer’s Antigone. A part of this contrast was evident in the costuming: Antigone dressed in the dark colors of mourning and deep earth, feet rag-strapped; Ismene attired in the airy, undisturbed white of impartiality. But the differences between the two owed itself more to Lake’s performance, which deftly handled these nuances and these gravities in the character. Conveying the sense of tensely well-mastered emotions, Lake exuded an Ismene who is desperate to feel pure and is resolutely certain that this purity lies in following the law of her city. She chooses loyalty to the State as the mechanism for forgiveness, rather than the gods, and to the individual rather than her family. Where Antigone, who cannot forget, is graceful and honest in all her active raging, Ismene is graceful but duplicitous in her silence. Lake bore the proud face of an Ismene who desires so much to let the history of her family’s passions die with her brothers yet struggles to witness her sister choose another path toward what both sisters believe is redemption. With noble subtlety, Lake’s Ismene brings greater depth and insight into Sophocles’. She reminds us that Ismene wasn’t simply Antigone’s lesser sister but a tragic figure, indeed the last remaining child of the curse of Oedipus, beneath whose still waters runs a deeper turmoil and conflict. She stands stately – almost royally, – one who may in fact, after Creon’s fall, become the new Queen of Thebes. —Elias Christian '22
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the Gadfly / λόγος / May 13, 2022
Jordan Kaymmeyer's Antigone
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s. Kammeyer portrayed Antigone as a sure-footed, if sometimes petulant, youth, desperately trying to hold her own in an uncongenial world. Her speech was precise and clear and, in this alone, she lent a certain bite to her character. Her movements were graceful, yet weighty. As she strode across the stage, it felt as though her Antigone had already submitted to the fact that she is in a tragedy and cannot escape her fate. Her scenes with Creon stuck out in particular, as Ms. Kammeyer adopted a lawyeristic style of argument. She let the logos of the text speak for itself, not lending too much emotion to Antigone’s pleas. It was refreshing to see an Antigone unfettered by her own tragedy, forcefully espousing her ideals, and ready to accept the consequences. —Ellie Laabs '22
